ANAHEIM — One down, one to go.
Mike Trout reached one of the two milestones he’s been pursuing with a homer in the Angels’ 4-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday afternoon.
The two-run homer gave him 1,001 RBIs in his career. It was also his 397th homer.
Garret Anderson (1,292) and Tim Salmon (1,016) are the only other players to have 1,000 RBIs with the Angels.
“When guys are here that long and what they mean to the organization, it’s pretty special to be part of the group,” Trout said. “They had unbelievable careers in an Angels uniform, and when you’re in the same conversation with them, it’s pretty special.”
The team had a brief celebration after the game to honor Trout. Kenley Jansen – another potential Hall of Famer who had just recorded his 465th career save – spoke about Trout’s accomplishment, and Trout thanked his teammates for being on base enough for him to collect those RBIs.
The victory allowed the Angels (51-55) to split the four-game series against the Seattle Mariners, one of the teams they are chasing for a wild card spot. The Angels remain 5 games out of the final playoff spot with three games to go before the trade deadline.
While their playoff hopes are slim, they nonetheless enjoyed a well-played game against a good team.
Starter Kyle Hendricks gave up one run in six innings. Hendricks was working on a shutout until he gave up a seventh-inning homer to MVP candidate Cal Raleigh, his 41st of the season.
Relievers Reid Detmers, Brock Burke and Jansen closed it down to secure the victory.
As for Trout, he’d been slumping since the All-Star break, to go with a setback in his efforts to get back into right field. Trout said he’s more concerned with keeping his bat in the lineup. The Angels aren’t going to argue, because even when he’s not at his best, he’s still dangerous.
“Even 75% of Mike is better than most people who’ve ever played the game,” interim manager Ray Montgomery said. “He’s going to go through ups and downs, just like anybody else. His are more magnified because of who he is, but I’ve got no problems with Mike.”
Trout came to the plate in the fifth inning with the Angels having just scored the first two runs of the game on a collection of walks, wild pitches and a hit batter. Nolan Schanuel was standing at second after dropping a blooper just inside the left-field line, for the first hit of the inning.
Mariners right-hander Logan Gilbert threw Trout a 96 mph fastball over the outer half of the plate, and Trout crushed it onto the green batters’ eye above the trees.
It was Trout’s 19th homer of the season, but just his second since the All-Star break.
At that point, the Angels and Hendricks had a 4-0 lead.
Hendricks was cruising through the Seattle lineup, having allowed just one hit and one walk, both in the fifth inning. Hendricks had thrown just 59 pitches as he took the mound in the sixth, but the Angels still had two relievers warming because of his propensity to lose his effectiveness the third time through the lineup.
Hendricks nearly gave up a homer to the 19th batter of the game. Mariners leadoff hitter J.P. Crawford sent a drive to center field, but Jo Adell leapt at the fence and robbed him a homer.
“It was one of those where we actually shaded in just a little bit,” Adell said. “I was actually playing a little farther in than normal, so right off the bat, I knew I had to get back to the wall, and then it had enough hang time for me to get back there and make a play. So yeah, it definitely, definitely worked out. I was just glad I got back to the wall and was able to work from there.”
Hendricks got another out to finish the sixth before his day was ended by Raleigh’s homer in the seventh.
Still, the six-inning, one-run performance was one of the best of the season for Hendricks.
“I feel like I really have been there the last two months, more or less,” Hendricks said. “Really it’s kind of been late in my outings where I’ve been getting beat a little bit. So just telling myself again today, I still need to make better pitches later in my outings. I made two bad pitches today, one to J.P., got robbed of a homer and one to Cal. So two bad pitches. That’s what I get. If I make good pitches, I get the results I want.”